Top looks great, Greg. Nice skill with the grinder - I always wind up gouging when I try to do finish work like that.

Jeff

Thanks , I think it comes from all the years of sanding boats for my dad . We weren't allowed to mess up many while we were learning . So my brother and I both have a soft touch with sanders/grinders .

Still working on collecting parts for the new hitch assembly but I did have a few things show up today . I ordered a Highland basket from Amazon for $93 and I wasnt sure what to expect . I am happy to report that it went together easily and seems to be well made . I dont know that I would load it with the rated weight of 150 lbs , but it should carry all the beach stuff for the kids with no problem.
The three sections all laid out . It was extremely well packaged , with no visible damage anywhere .
The back half slid in perfectly as did the front . Then self tapping screws hold it together .
It comes with nice heavy hardware to attach it to your vehicle or trailer .
These rubber sleeves roll over the joints to help waterproof the rack . I suppose they work , but I will most likely take it back apart and weld up the joints .
All assembled .
I test fit it on Kimbo's WJ .
Here it is from the back with some custom wood mounting blocks .
And these are the locks and where they are going to go on the vertical flange .
Stickered up fairing and the beer of the day . I dont care for most IPA's , but I like this one a lot .
From the rear with the cargo net in place .I am going to get rid of the yellow plastic clips and replace them with black carabiners .
And we had John aka ECoast over and smoked / BBQ's burgers and red snap hot dogs . It was a good end to a great day .

It was an odd day with the weather and lack of productivity but I found a smoking deal on a Yakima rack for the trailer! It was a little too tall in the stock setup , but is perfect with the towers removed . I do plan on narrowing the bars a little before its fully installed .

Tonight I got to work on the tonneau . First up was to measure 5 times and then drill the holes . I was nervous about drilling the tonneau and thats why I kept measuring . I am by no means a perfectionist , but all four holes squared up within 1/64th . This trailer is going to end up being the most precise thing I have ever built.

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Once the holes were drilled I ran the bolt through the angle support and into the yakima rack mounts. This served two purposes . One was to strengthen the top and the second purpose is to provide a mount for the lifting strut .
Once everything was mounted to the tonneau I made two lower mounting brackets for the struts .

And then it was time for the voodoo math magic to get the extended length and the angles to all work together . The good news is that I got the max height with good working angles . The bad news is that the struts I picked are rated at 150lbs and one arm attached seems perfect . When both arms are attached it wont stay shut . So tommorrow I am going to call AVM and see what strut has the same lenght with less lifting force .
With just the one strut installed it feels just about perfect and allows for plenty of room to get in and out of the trailer .
And heres the catapault/tonneau with both struts . It is nice to be able to get rid of the stick !

No luck on the struts today , still hunting for a pair that are 14" compressed and 21"extended with 40-50lbs of lifting force .

I did get to Tractor supply for some hitch supplies after the strut debacle today. I picked up a 1" bolt , nut , collar and centering ball . Then they got chucked !
The centering collar and bolt turned down and ready to insert into the tubing . The collar fits inside of the 1.75 tubing perfectly , though I did turn the bolt down a little bit more to make sure it wouldnt bind . Once everything is in place I will weld the collar in on the end and through plug welds .
This spacer will be replaced with another centering ball .
And this shows what the end result of hitch 2.0 will look like .

Made some more progress on the hitch , I think all I have left to order is a threaded insert and then I can weld it all up .

I wanted to use a bronze washer between the two halves , but it was impossible to find locally . The local machine shop sold me a block of self lubricating dense plastic that may be a remnant from chernobyl . I am not kidding this stuff is almost impossible to cut , but with slow speeds I was able to make a washer .
I used a 1.75"hole saw to make the outer cut , and then a 1" hole saw to make the inner cut . Then I flipped it on its side and made a vertical cut with the band saw. Once that was done the washer fell out .
It looks rough , but smoothed out nicely with a little sanding .
When I get back from New Jersey I will finish this and the tonneau up and move on to outfitting the trailer for trips .

The new struts work great , and should still lift a couple of bikes up no problem . I am going to add an X brace underneath to stiffen the tonneau up a little , but its so nice having the trailer almost ready to go .